Too bad the stupid newsfolks used a fake (artist's concept illustration) to headline a set of genuinely spectacular photographs. :-(
A bit of the mind-changing power of Hubble is the almost un-countable number of galaxies (not stars -- I count only a handful) in this image. Yet, it reveals only an area of our sky smaller than that of a pinhead -- held at arm's length...
When you realize that we in the northern hemisphere can only see two galaxies (our own "milky Way" and M31 in Andromeda) with our unaided eyes, you can begin to appreciate how tremendously Hubble has expanded our visible universe!
For a much grander-scale view of the above (#36) image, check out
this 1280 X 1263 pixel version from
APOD -- the Astronomy Picture Of the Day. (If your cursor appears as a magnifying glass with a "+" inside when you "mouse over" the image, a click on it will give you an even larger image...
If you enjoyed these Hubble images, I suggest you get into the habit of visiting APOD. And for an almost endless sequence of such wonders, visit the APOD Archives.
